Former champion Evans finds a kindred spirit in Adlington, the woman who stole her record

Of all the cherished possessions Rebecca Adlington will carry with her on her journey back from Beijing next week — two gold medals, the promise of financial security, memories to last a lifetime — perhaps the most satisfying will be the words of the woman whose 800 metres freestyle world record she shattered on Saturday morning .

Janet Evans sat in the stands in the Water Cube. As she looked down on the British teenager, the heavy heart that accepted with every passing length that the record she set 19 years earlier — when Adlington was just six months old — was about to fall, found a small comfort in the recognition of a kindred spirit.

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Champions: Rebecca Adlington with the women whose 19-year-old record she beat, Janet Evans

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'She reminded me of me,' Evans, now 36, said. 'She didn't need competition to go out and break the world record. She swam a very well-split race with very even splits. She swam it like I swam it. Take it out and go for it, to heck with the rest of the field. I saw determination in her.

'I fully expected the record to fall. But as much as I prepared myself for it, it was a little bittersweet. Still, it was time.'

If Evans was to relinquish swimming's equivalent of Bob Beamon's phenomenal long jump record in athletics, she could at least be satisfied that it had been taken by a special talent.

Victory: Adlington acclaims her world record in the 800m freestyle

And not just taken. Smashed. Adlington undercut Evans by 2.12sec — a colossal margin. Second-placed Alessia Filippi of Italy finished six seconds adrift, four seconds outside Evans' time. The world might not have caught up with the American but Adlington has. And then some.

Barring accident or injury, Britain's girl of the Games in London in 2012 seems certain to be the unassuming 19-year-old from Mansfield. No more fretting over travelling or hotel costs out of a UK Sport allowance that currently runs to £12,000 per year once coaching costs, medical insurance and the like have been deducted.

In one giant leap, a girl who was unknown at the start of the year will move from the lowest bracket of funding to the highest. Yesterday, her only gripe was about the cost of a pair of swimming goggles — '£25, and they're just a bit of plastic' — and the £30 she has to shell out for a new training swimsuit each month.

'You got through them quickly when you're swimming four hours a day. I'd love to have a kit deal because buying costumes, goggles, hats... it gets quite expensive.'

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Doubling up: Rebecca Adlington has gone from a relative unknown to a world star

You might just be in luck there, Becky. And that Audi A3 you want is also now a formality.

If there is to caution urged in Adlington's glorious tale, it is that Evans was a precocious teenager, too, yet she won her final individual Olympic gold medal at the age of 20.

Longevity cannot be taken for granted, so celebrate and savour our golden girl now.

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Former champion Evans finds a kindred spirit in woman who stole her record